People Are People

Released on 12 March 1984, it was the lead single from Some Great Reward. It was started in the London sessions and finished at Hansa in West Berlin, where Wilder said most of it was sampled into the Synclavier, making it one of their first almost entirely programmed tracks. The samples included running water, creaking doors, an anvil and an air hostess giving the pre-take-off drill. Gore said the song was about racism, and drew partly on being taunted in Basildon for his appearance. Wilder thought it could also be about war.

It reached number 1 in West Germany, where it was used as the theme for TV coverage of the 1984 Summer Olympics, and number 4 in the UK, then their highest UK chart position. It entered the US Hot 100 in May 1985 and peaked at number 13. The limited 12-inch carried the first remix by an outside remixer, Adrian Sherwood. The video, directed by Clive Richardson, combined Cold War footage with the band aboard HMS Belfast.

The band later cooled on it. Gahan called it too nice and too commercial in 1990, and Fletcher called it their biggest hit that they do not play live. It was last played live in 1988, captured on 101. Gore, who dislikes the song, acknowledged that without it the band might not still be around. RuPaul covered it in 2004, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed it among the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.